BAKING: Chocolate Whoopie Pies

This was supposed to be red velvet whoopie pies, but could I find red food colouring this close to Valentine’s Day? Could I hell. So, you’ll just have to settle for chocolate I’m afraid. Though, and I don’t mean to toot my own horn here, but that’s not such a bad thing as these are delicious. They might not look like the perfect circles you get in the shops, but they do have a rustic homemade charm that your other half would still appreciate if you were making them as a V-Day treat. They take minimal effort too, so go forth and bake!

How To Do It:Step One | Using a handheld or freestanding mixer, combine the sugar and egg together until pale. Combine the yoghurt, milk and vanilla and add this to the sugar/egg. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, bicarb and baking powder together and add this to the wet mix in batches. I did half, then mix for a minute until combined, then the other half. Once you have a batter, place in the fridge for 20-30minutes to firm up.Step Two | While it cools, preheat your oven to 170C/Gas Mark 3 and line two baking trays with parchment. The whoopie pies need to be 3-5cm across and 2-3cm apart. You can get 8-10 on one baking tray. Once the mix has cooled, spoon out (in as close as you can get to perfect circles) the mix onto the spaces you’ve drawn out. Place in the over for 10-13 minutes, or until the mix is firm(ish) but springy to the touch. Mine took about 16 minutes, but keep checking them. Place on a baking tray once cooled slightly to cool completely.Step Three | While they’re cooling, mix the frosting. Combine the butter and icing sugar together until light and then add the cream cheese. Beat for about 1-2minutes until it looks right, add more icing sugar in spoonfuls if it looks too soft. Don’t overmix cream cheese or it goes runny. Place in the fridge for about 5 minutes to allow it to harden up a bit.Step Four | Once everything is ready, spoon about 1 tsp of mix onto the middle of one side of a whoopie pie and place the other half on top. Press down lightly with your palm (not on the edges, or they’ll break off) and ta-da, you’re all done!

Whoopie pies will last about 3-5 days in an airtight container.

So there you have it, bar the cooling times, they only take about 25minutes to throw together and bake. You could add chocolate chips or make plain vanilla frosting (just take out the cream cheese) if you like, they’re quite versatile. They’re seriously chocolaty and have the consistency of a cake but they’re also a bit like a soft biscuit, two of my favourite things. Anyway, enjoy and let me know if you bake this or any of my other recipes!